"Where are we going?" Special Agent Dana Scully asked
her partner as they pulled out of her apartment
complex's parking lot.

"I thought we'd go back to my place. You can rest and
I'll work on the report. Or is there someplace else
you'd rather go?" Special Agent Fox Mulder replied.

"Like where, Mulder?"

"I don't know. . .your mother's, maybe. Or a church."

"A church?" Scully asked.

"The way this whole case has effected you. . .I
thought maybe. . .you might want to talk with a
priest. I'm kind of out my league here, Scully."

"I probably will want to talk with Father McKay
eventually, Mulder. But right now I'm tired. Let's
just go back to your place."

Mulder nodded slowly. "Scully," he said softly. "If
you felt I was. . . belittling your religious faith in anyway, I'm sorry. I'd never want to do that."

"It's okay, Mulder," Scully said, reaching out to
cover his hand with her own.

Several hours later, Mulder got up from the couch and
stood in the doorway of his bedroom. Scully was
sleeping, huddled beneath the covers. She seemed to
sense his presence, for as he watched she stirred and
opened her eyes.

"What is it, Mulder?'

"Just checking on you."

"I'm fine, Mulder."

"The problem isn't you, Scully. It's me."

"What?"

"I feel like. . .if I hadn't disregarded you. .
.Pfaster would never have been able to make it as far
as your apartment. That whole episode last night was
my fault."

Scully was silent for a moment, then she swept back
the covers and said, "Come to bed, Mulder."

"What?"

"Come to bed. I can't sleep with you staring at me and you can't sleep if you don't know I'm safe. And we're both exhausted, so come lie down."

Mulder nodded and crossed the room with a few strides
of his long legs. He would have  offered to be a
gentleman and sleep on top of the covers, but she
tugged the blankets down further and patted the sheet
beside her, so he slipped in and lay down, careful to
keep on his side of the bed.

After a few minutes, Mulder rolled from his back onto
his side and slid a tentative arm around his partner.
He'd remove it if she objected, but maybe she was
already asleep and wouldn't notice.

Scully wasn't asleep, but she didn't object, either.
Quite the opposite, in fact. She gave a blissful sigh
and scooted backwards until she was fully spooned
against him. He tightened his hold on her and smiled
against her hair.

"How about I tell you a bedtime story, Scully?"

"As long as it's not the narrative from one of those
videos that aren't yours."

"No, this is a regular bedtime story. Like a fable or
a fairy tale. With talking animals and stuff."

"You're weird, Mulder."

"The word is Spooky, Scully. Now do you want to hear
the story or not?"

"I guess so. Go ahead."

"Once upon a time there was a fox who lived in the
woods with his parents and little sister," Mulder
began.

"Were these woods, by any chance, in New England?"

"Yes, Scully. Shh!"

"Anyway, the fox and his sister were happy. Then, one
night, an evil dragon came and stole the fox's little
sister. This made him sad."

"I know," murmured Scully.

"So, the fox decided to dedicate his life to searching for his sister. He went to, um, dragon-fighting school and did very well there. Then he began his quest, searching for his sister while hunting down monsters and slaying dragons. The fox was noble and brave and dedicated, but he was very lonely. He longed for another animal to come and aid him in his quest. Then, one day, a kat with beautiful red fur walked into the fox's lair."

"A cat?"

"Spelled with a "K", Scully."

"Oh. Like for Dana Katherine?"

"Yes. Let me tell the story."

"Okay."

"Anyway, at first - just at first - the fox wasn't
sure if he could trust the kat. He knew she was
beautiful and brave and intelligent and inquisitive,
but he thought she might be in league with the
dragons. But soon the fox learned that the kat was
also loyal and trustworthy. And the fox was very, very happy. For the first time in many years, he had a friend."

"Didn't the fox and the kat know any other animals?"

"Well, let's see. They worked for a. . .um. . .a
bulldog," Mulder said. Scully giggled.

"And there were three monkeys who were their friends,
but the monkeys had never attended dragon-fighting
school, so they were only of limited help in aiding
the fox and the kat with their quest." Scully giggled
again.

"Anyway, the kat and the fox battled monsters and
dragons together. But then one day, a terrible thing
happened. A small, but extremely smokey dragon,
captured the kat."

"I bet the fox was worried."

"Worried, doesn't begin to describe it, Scully. The
fox was frantic! Because, with the kat in the clutches of the dragons, he realized something."

"What?"

"The fox loved the kat. Very, very much."

"Oh."

"Anyway, the fox got the kat back. And they continued
to battle dragons and rats and sea monsters and moth
men and bad bees and other evil creatures."

Mulder was quiet for a moment and finally Scully
said, "Go on. I like this story."

"I guess that's the end, Scully. I mean, I don't
really know how the story ends. I don't know if the
fox and the kat ever find his sister or not. I don't
know if they eliminate all the dragons or if there's
always going to be one more monster lurking around then corner. I don't know if the kat and the fox live
happily ever after."

Scully said softly, "I don't know if they ever find
the fox's little sister, either. And I think there
will always be monsters; the fox and the kat - even
with help from the bulldog and the monkeys - can't
eliminate all the evil in the whole wide world. But I
do think they live happily ever after. Because you
left out one very important part of the story."

"What's that?"

"Well, you said the fox loved the kat. But you forgot
to put in the part about the kat loving the fox, too."

"Oh."

"Go to sleep, Mulder."

"Okay, Scully."